The Paris Olympic Test Event is a strange race.
It will take place on an iconic course in a storied city and, aside from a mild concern over the Seine, the race looks like it will be the highlight of the year. At the same time, though, there is a point of confusion insofar that is it not quite clear what we are looking at.
Given the strength of the fields, a case can be made that it could be the best triathlon event of the year. Moreover, there are plenty of narratives that feed into its importance.
To start with, being able to race on the Olympic course will provide valuable insights and data ahead of the real thing next year. The athletes and their teams will be able to gleam information, such as how the thirty-two steps up from the swim in the Seine to Pont Alexandre III will affect them. They will know how the course plays out, where some points to attack are. Most importantly, they will discover how the course feels.
Amid the bedlam of the Olympic Games, having some sense of familiarity can be vital.
In addition to offering a chance to test the course, the Test Event will act as the first Olympic selection race for many countries. It therefore offers a first stab at securing an Olympic berth, making it the most important race of the year for a large part of the field.
To cap it all off, the results will also count towards an athlete’s WTCS total. It is here that the purpose of the Test Event starts to get a little over-loaded.
To a degree, including it in the WTCS is similar to how Continental Championships (over the Olympic distance) can count towards an athlete’s Series total. However, Continental Championships have a base value of 400 points, notwithstanding the strength of field factor. By contrast, the Test Event will be worth 1000 points.
After the WTCS Final in Pontevedra, it is the next most valuable race on the circuit.
One argument in favour of including it in the Series is it creates an additional incentive for athletes to race. However, anyone with Olympic aspirations would have been loath to miss out. Given Olympic qualification is at stake for so many athletes, and that it would be a waste to miss out on racing on the course, the athletes needed to go anyway. The incentive to attend the Test Event already existed.
Following that logic, it could be argued that if the athletes are already there, why not have the race count as part of the Series? That itself is a fair point.
The thinking here, however, is not that the Test Event should not be included. The question is whether it should. It is a slim difference but a relevant one.
In 2021, the Olympic Games were included as a Series race to make up for the paucity of events due to the pandemic. That was more obviously unfair on the athletes that could not race due to the rules on participation. With different rules at play in the Test Event, it does not compare.
A conversation could have been had to determine whether the Olympic Games should not have been included. For the Test Event, the discussion is if it should.
Whereas the inclusion of the Olympic Games made for an obvious point of unfairness, the issue at hand with the Test Event is of the purpose of the event.
For what reason are the athletes racing?
Obviously there is a major Olympic component behind it. Yet that same Olympic focus risks overshadowing the WTCS product. In making the Test Event part of the Series, the event risks portraying the Series as subservient to the Olympics and as being overshadowed by a more important competition.
If the race was always intended to count towards the WTCS, it could have been designated as part of the Series from the start. WTCS Paris would have worked. In open water swimming, the Paris Test Event was included as the Paris World Cup. That way of structuring it meant the test was part of the broader World Cup rather than squeezing the World Cup into the test.
Had the Test Event been named WTCS Paris from the start, the same Olympic qualification criteria could have been used. However, the race would have stood more comfortably within the confines of the WTCS and it would not have made the Series seem like an add-on to Olympic qualification.
Another option would have been to have the Test Event as a stand-alone race. The Tokyo Test Event did not count towards the Series in 2019, nor did the Rio de Janeiro Test Event count towards the world title in 2015.
In essence, the inclusion of the Test Event in the Series feels dilatory. Indeed, the situation risks looking a little like the Series is of lesser importance to Olympic qualification.
In this case, what is done is done. There is nothing to lament or complain about. The racing will be great and the Test Event will hopefully be a success.
As an observer, though, the structure of the event just strikes as strange.
It’s like going to a modern art gallery and having to tilt your head to see what is really going on. Are the Olympic Games the central theme or is the World Series at stake? By putting both at centre stage, they risk crowding one another out and reducing the other to an after thought.
Ultimately, just because something can be done, that doesn’t mean it is always the best course of action.
